


The Long Road Ahead

by ninnie_eats_chips



Series: Asymmetry [8]
Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Au Ra Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV), Bread, Canon-Typical Violence, Established Relationship, F/M, Female Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV), Fluff and Humor, Patch 5.3: Reflections in Crystal Spoilers, Post-Patch 5.3: Reflections in Crystal, Second-Hand Embarrassment, Specific Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV), gross description of food, soft, when your friends know you're in love and affectionately harass you for it
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-13
Updated: 2020-11-14
Packaged: 2021-03-06 17:00:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,876
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26192332
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ninnie_eats_chips/pseuds/ninnie_eats_chips
Summary: The end of one journey always marks the beginning of another.[Collection of fics following my specific WoL post-5.3! Chapters will likely be reordered to fit chronologically as I add them; see individual chapter notes for details on each one.]
Relationships: G'raha Tia | Crystal Exarch/Warrior of Light
Series: Asymmetry [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1539757
Comments: 13
Kudos: 30





	1. Food for the Soul

**Author's Note:**

> This will be another chapter fic that starts with post-5.3 onward, although not necessarily connected this time! Time to indulge!  
> I debated on whether to start a new series where I throw rating to the wind, but in the end I decided to keep this within Asymmetry (still SFW).

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lily hasn't yet experienced the marvel of Sharlayan cuisine known as the Archon Loaf, and Tataru is kind enough to give her a taste of what she never had. 
> 
> Krile and G'raha are kind enough to watch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Adding and reordering this to be first because I realized I needed to make Lily try the Archon Loaf. And there was no way she was going to wrap some up and take it home, lmao.

“You’ve grappled with much worse things, haven’t you? Go on, take a bite.”

Lily, with a comically large frown on her lips, slowly casted her gaze up at Krile from the slice of Archon Loaf on the plate in her lap. G’raha too watched and waited for her to taste it, sitting up beside her in his bed.

Nearby, Tataru giggled wickedly at her expression.

Krile was right, of course. She was a heroine. A Primal slayer. Bested an assortment of Ascians and “notable bastards” alike. So she knew what her Lalafellin friends were thinking: ‘ _oh, what does a measly piece of bread have on the_ _Warrior of Light?’_

At least that was one way that made her an easy target for teasing; her achilles’ heel historically being rather _ordinary_ things.

Despite its innocuous look, the bread was _stinky._ So much so, that she had once already raised the bread to her lips, mistakenly taken a breath just before, and _gagged._ It was hard enough to get onto her palate after the accidental whiff, but having dared to ask about the ingredients, Lily now understood what G’raha had meant before by “feats of mastication.” And she didn’t want to try it anymore.

“You’ll find that it isn’t so bad after the first bite… if you can manage one. Think of it like casting spells; it gets easier with time, doesn’t it?” Krile attempted to soothe her as she took a deep breath, a safe distance _away_ from the bread this time.

_Right._ _She could do this._

Lily picked up the bread and—

“And then it’s really just the aftertaste that is appalling,” G’raha added from behind her shoulder, and was instantly fixed with a pair of death glares causing his ears to lose altitude.

Her stomach did a strange flip, reminded again of that awful scent, and she put the piece down once more.

“Er…”

“Look, Lily-” Tataru’s small feet pattered up to her knees. Her palm barely encompassed her kneecap when she patted it.

“Long ago, when you were just what we call a ‘sprout’, you confided in me that you felt sorry about being the only one without one of those fancy tattoos from Sharlayan. I-I can say that now, right?”

Heat creeped across Lily’s cheeks watching Krile’s brows curl, and she could feel G’raha’s eyes on her as well, wanting to ask.

“Well, you just did.”

Tataru shrugged, a nervous laugh escaping.

“Well, I’ll have you know that _I_ have no such tattoos, and yet, here I am! And look at what I’ve made! A faithful recreation of a Sharlayan, uh… meal. And it’s scholar-approved!”

Now Lily herself was smiling sympathetically down at her friend as she raised her arms in pride of her creation.

She had a point. At least the first part. Although she wasn’t sure how digging up an embarrassing old secret was inherently relevant.

“Was that meant to help me eat this?” The Warrior of Light tilted her chin and squeaked in a high-pitched voice. Though before the littler one could muck up the speech any further, Lily let out a sigh.

“Okay fine, I’ll eat it! I’m going to take a bite, so no more coming in and giving me puppydog eyes!”

No delay. Lily held her breath and took a decent-sized chunk of bread into her mouth—and froze when it reached her tongue. She dropped the rest of the slice onto the plate and placed a hand over her mouth, resting her elbow in her lap falling into a deep, reflective silence while Tataru rid her of the plate. Now there was no going back.

“Take your time.” G’raha reassured when he noticed her struggling to begin chewing, the pleasantness of his voice something Lily only wished she could appreciate right now.

“‘Tis a unique texture that takes time to acclimate oneself to.”

_Gods. That texture, though._ There was little to say about it except that it was dense. More like a rich fudge cake, except that delicious fudge was replaced by the _fishiest_ fish she had ever put into her mouth—and she was a fisherman’s daughter (who had pretty much had it all before). Basked in tasting what Eastern cuisine she could while she was abroad, and occasionally tried new things that didn’t always tickle her fancy. But Lily would always endeavor not to be rude to the strangers who fed her. And rarely was anything bad enough that she wanted to spit it out.

This, she did not know if she could resist… That awful texture, of something that had been ground to a pulp that shouldn’t have, was only exceeded by the flavor. Too heady. Too healthy. Too _much_ for one Auri to process, that a part of her mind begged her to consider whether or not this was in fact food. Just one pinch of godsdamned table salt might’ve done _something_ to break up whatever was happening in her mouth, but no.

Tears were in Lily’s eyes by the time she had gotten it down. She didn’t know how she did it, but she did. After her dramatically loud swallow and the sound that escaped her afterward, came a trio of cheers, claps, and congratulations she couldn’t help but feel pitiful about.

_Did she even get this kind of response the first time she extinguished Ifrit’s flames of rage? She didn’t think so._

“Well well, Lilium!” Krile chuckled as she finished clapping. “Now you have truly bested your worst enemy: Nutrition.”

She gasped as soon as she could finish gulping down the tea that Tataru had made haste to bring her.

“T-that was an affront to nutrition!” Lily was met with more laughter from behind her, the sound of which could only soften her brow to hear.

_Raha laughing._

“I said the exact thing upon first tasting it.” He said.

“He did. And the face he made was just like yours, too.”

Her suffering aside, there was such a bright smile on Krile’s face like she hadn’t seen before. An extra warmth in her eyes that made Lily look back and forth between her short stature and the Miqo’te beside her, reminding her not just of the lack of _history_ she used to be jealous of between her comrades... But that these were two friends, also reunited after their long and winding paths lead them apart to play their own very important roles. These moments of reminiscing, enjoying happy memories and making new ones along the way, were the true spoils of battle. Even when they made her feel smaller. _Especially_ when they made her feel smaller.

“Lily, are you alright? Don’t feel too sick, do you?”

“Huh?”

Tataru had soon turned all eyes back on her after she had spaced out. She had become sentimental for a moment, but perhaps luckily had been stopped before anything had the chance to make her eyes misty.

“Oh no, I was just… Well, you know…”

There was a pause just long enough to be uncomfortable. Lily shrugged, and then one by one, so did the other ladies before seemingly letting it go. By now, they both knew she was prone to wander off in her mind.

_“Anyway.”_ Finally, Krile let out a sigh and pattered next to Tataru, giving her a tap on the shoulder that made the secretary look curiously at her. Krile herself seemed like she was taking note of the proximity between Lily and her old friend, sitting on his bed, and for the first time it made Lily wonder if she read anything into their relationship. Or if G’raha had _told her_ anything.

Not that she had to wonder for long, with the suspiciously devilish grin that she adopted.

“I thank you for giving our _“cuisine”_ a fighting chance. And in the same breath, I offer my condolences for it. But I’m sure Raha would be happy to buy you plenty of chocolates to wash the taste out with— _when_ I deem him ready.”

“I-I would—?” The Miqo’te was stammering, ears sticking up straight when Lily cocked an eyebrow at him. The flush on G’raha’s cheeks suggested there was a conversation there was yet to be had.

“Oh! Well, o-of course I would, I mean!”

Krile was snickering as she led the other Lalafell away, now seeming to understand and going along of her own will. “Rest well!” Was all the secretary added, both of them already at the door.

“Hold on a moment, I would like to stretch my legs—Ah, they’re gone-”

“I should have shoved the rest into your mouth while I had the chance.”

The statement took G’raha by surprise, making his expressive ears stand up once more, mouth hung agape, not catching the half-jest before exclaiming “Why for?!” Obviously thinking himself in trouble or somesuch.

She couldn’t help her amusement when she replied calmly, “Very good for you. You’ll be back on your feet in no time.”

“Ahah.” 

G’raha reached for Lily’s hand and gently squeezed it. “Not hungry yet, I’m afraid… Though I would assert _again_ that I am ready to _rise,_ even if I am not yet prepared to do more strenuous activities...” Red waves spilling over his shoulders, G’raha sighed and laid his head back against the stack of pillows anyway, still holding her hand in his. He had a content smile on his lips.

He still lacked a bit of energy yet, but was doing well enough for himself to stay put. He’d only been caught up once looking for something to read in his boredom, but Krile had given him quite the earful after having overseen the Scions’ empty bodies for weeks, only to have him drop to his knees as soon as Lily brought him home from the tower. After trying so hard not to have his weight shifted onto her more and more the closer they got to Revenant’s Toll, where he ultimately gave out.

“Krile did say perhaps tomorrow.” She leaned forward to give him a kiss that lingered for a few moments, then gave way to G’raha’s grimacing. When she realized why, she frowned, embarrassed, gradually letting his fingers slip from hers as she got up.

“And then... there’s something I would ask you. Something that I think we all want to ask you~”

“Oh? You won’t tell me yet?”

Lily moved away slowly, G’raha pausing in the middle of cracking the book he had dog-eared at his bedside, to tilt his chin with interest.

“I have reason to keep my counsel.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, I set out for something more short and sweet than this simply to make Lily have a bad time and I end up making the damn BREAD SCENE kind of corny for a minute. Okay, whatever. *throws hands up*
> 
> (Also in case you didn't catch it she was teasing him with his own words. She likes to do that, hehe.)
> 
> Probably going to slide another scene between this one and A New Stone because these have been too wholesome and I want to hit where it hurts.


	2. Peaceful Days, Restless Nights

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lily hasn't lost G'raha, but she can't forget what happened that easily.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay the way I wrote this it doesn't fit in very good imo but I wanted them to have this moment... to show that Lily is still affected by the Exarch "dying" but more so in a certain way than mourning...
> 
> It's a little sad but positive in the end!

Lily was antsy in her bed. Avoided tossing and turning as much as she could to avoid creaking the cheaper mattress and disturbing the other Scions sleeping nearby. It wasn’t as comfortable as her bed at home, but that she could get used to. 

What she couldn’t get used to were the memories plaguing her mind while she tried to sleep. Her consciousness was playing a cruel trick on her. After everything had finally wound down and the danger had ceased for now, Lily found herself staring at familiar stone walls and the backs of her friends, and asking,  _ ‘is this real?’  _ Even if she already knew the answer.

When she closed her eyes, she was in the First, at the throne of the Crystal Tower, watching…  _ Watching G’raha die. Watching the light leave his eyes, crystal consuming his lips, nose, and eyes— _

After having stared at the walls long enough, Lily sat up.

She didn’t want to dream about that moment. She had to defy living it again.

Soft candlelight flickered across the room from a few places. There was a set of candles lit at the larger table toward the far corner of the room by where Lily slept. Just enough light in case anyone got up in the night.

Another candle was beside G’raha’s bed. He hadn’t blown it out after he finished reading for the night, and she was thankful for it, not allowing the dark pockets of shadows in the room to manifest into any more of her demons. It also allowed her to just  _ look at him,  _ to ground herself in this reality. And the Auri was doubly grateful for the warm ruby eyes that blinked back at her. Awake.  _ Alive. _

Her own eyes were wet. Like tears wanted to spill from them thinking about the Exarch standing alone atop that tower for all eternity. But her tears couldn’t fall, tired from falling in the days past, be those the first sorrowful tears, or the many joyful ones that followed. She didn’t  _ want _ to cry, when there was absolutely no reason to. 

As G’raha said when they reunited in the tower,  _ she’d left nothing behind. _

But the memory was still horrible, heavy in her heart, and enough to fill it with sorrow each time it replayed itself.

Long lashes batted and willed the tears back inside while G’raha attempted to read her expression from across the room. G’raha had propped himself up on the other side of the opposite row of beds. He had heard her stirring, and now had a longing look in his eyes that made Lily want to comfort him instead.

How she wished it were appropriate for her to cross the room with her blanket and climb under the covers with him. Lie at his backside, nuzzle into the fine red hairs at the base of the Miqo’te’s neck and throw a leg over his side. Soft tail draped over her leg, breathing deeply of his scent for comfort. Tender kisses on his nape to tell him she would never, ever leave him. Under her protection, she would have G’raha outlive her by leaps and bounds.

From across the room brows furled at her, and Lily shivered for want of contact.

With a knot in her throat, Lily shared her emotions as best she could in silence. In the dark, fulms apart, hearts reaching out to one another to fill the void. Finally, she reluctantly got up, slipping on her shoes beside the bed. She knew G’raha would follow. She was almost certain she heard him pulling back the covers while she made quietly for the door.

She got as far as the aetheryte outside (not knowing where else she would’ve wandered off to anyway) and stood folding her bare arms against her chest, eyes to the gray stone beneath her—before Lily heard the heavy wooden door behind her creak shut. Feet scuffed up behind her. 

G’raha was wordless for a moment, and then she heard the rustle of fabric before a warm blanket enveloped her shoulders, hair gently being pulled back and out of the way. Whereas she believed he would’ve just asked her what was troubling her two and some years ago, time had taught G’raha the nuance of space and speaking through action. 

And perhaps he could surmise as to what kept her up at night.

“Thank you.”

G’raha nodded and simply hovered beside her, elbows almost close enough to touch but not quite.

Lily listened to the deep, faint hum of the aetheryte in front of them, not too different than how the Crystal Tower sounded from within. Its blue gleam over their skin was so similar. When Lily closed her eyes, she could picture standing in the Ocular, talking to G’raha before she even knew it was him. That he was  _ Raha.  _

They weren’t bad memories to have. She could recall the night after her battle with Hades where she first reached out to touch G’raha’s bruised face in the Ocular. How they cried to one another and couldn’t help but lay their feelings bare; honest, open, and bleeding like their wounds. Lily smiled remembering the first taste of his lips, salty with tears and with the slight iron of blood. Far from a perfect moment, and yet when she thought about it, she wouldn’t have it any other way. From the blood and pain, they had built their relationship that was long overdue, and they had come so far to  _ this. _

She looked at G’raha then, eyes drawn upward toward the tower’s spire in the distance. He didn’t notice she was looking, and for a moment, as the aetheryte rotated, its shards casted rays of light on his face that reminded her of the Crystal Exarch.

There was something else though, too. The way G’raha tilted his chin toward the sky, beheld the tower with respect and reverence, in the same manner as the day he discovered the truth about his blood. There were stars in his eyes that told Lily he was both the dauntless man who summoned her across worlds to save both them and her—and the man who she first explored the tower with, rode her chocobo with until they both fell off, and taught each other every day in the same amount of time that they used to get into trouble.

Lily slipped her hand into G’raha’s, and that was when his ears bounced. He finally took notice of her attention and turned his head, surprised to see the little smile on her lips.

“A-ah, I didn’t notice you were looking in my direction- “ G’raha flushed, then began adding quickly, “I’m sorry if my presence is disturbing you more than helping. I saw such sadness in your eyes in there, and I could only imagine what must be on your mind after… after everything that has happened. I just wished to comfort you.”

He squeezed her hand and she shook her head.

“I’m not… I’m not  _ sad, _ per se.”

_ ‘I’m scared,’  _ Lily’s head-voice supplied.

She was also disappointed in herself. She owed it to him not to act this way; to look like she was sad when she was overall filled with happiness to have him by her side. Lily  _ knew _ G’raha was nothing but himself. That was why she feared losing him again more than anything. At the very least, she feared _ seeing him die  _ when she closed her eyes.

The look G’raha gave her, was of someone trying to understand with minimal information. He gave her palm another squeeze while tears welled up in the Auri’s eyes against her wishes, and he was patient until he couldn’t be. And when the perfect storm of emotions finally swallowed her up, they were in sync; letting each other’s hand go as arms wrapped tenderly around one another. Lily buried her head into G’raha’s shoulder, but there were no mournful sobs to be had. There was nothing to mourn. She just let his shirt sop up her tears in silence, knowing she was letting him down this very moment. 

She would only have to look G’raha in the eyes to know he blamed himself every time she hurt from something related to his past decisions. He’d blame himself for this, too, if she told him what exactly was on her mind.

“Will you tell me?” He asked, one hand playing in curly locks of pink hair. He had the other wrapped around her back, cupping her shoulder through the blanket.

Lily smiled into that comfortable crook. A gentle smile while she hugged him hard enough to trick herself into believing he wasn’t the one coddling her.

“Not yet. Sorry.”

“...Fair enough. I trust you will when the time is right?”

“Mmhm.” She paused. “But it isn’t because I don’t trust you, or something like that. It isn’t because of anything you did. I just want you to know that.”

G’raha squeezed, nuzzling against her head in acknowledgement.

_ ‘I just want to focus on us being happy right now. I want to protect you so what happened will never happen again.’ _

“...Raha?” 

“Hm?”

She sniffled, lifted her head and rubbed her tears away while G’raha saved the blanket just as it began slipping off of her shoulder. Then she pointed her nose toward the direction of the marketplace, toward Rowena’s.

Lily knew that with nothing else to look at, the nightwatch would find the two of them loitering around (one of them with a blanket) a spectacle, if they noticed. They wouldn’t give The Warrior of Light trouble, however—they wouldn’t give G’raha trouble if he was with her (they didn’t back then). Perhaps there would be talk about them tomorrow, but such a thought only gave her a sheepish sense of delight.

“What is it?”

When she took hold of the Miqo’te’s hand again and began pulling him along, his left ear wiggled.

“Indulge me in something selfish.”

* * *

“You look awfully worried, brother. Lost your teddy again?” Alisaie scoffed playfully, watching her twin pace around tables, peering behind the divider nearby, and turning up a frown.

He then turned and directed that frown at her.

“Now now, you know I haven’t slept with stuffed toys since—N-no, I’m simply a bit concerned about Lily. And G’raha Tia, for that matter.”

Alphinaud then gave scrutiny not just to his sister, but toward the rest of his friends who were seated at the tables eating their breakfasts like the two of their members weren’t notably absent. Like there wasn’t too many extra hotcakes lying stacked on the bar, losing heat with no one to devour them.

“They were both gone ere I rose from my bed.” 

When not even chef Tataru herself looked up from her tea, and the others continued sawing diligently at their plates, Alphinaud started to catch on that they were none too concerned. Y’shtola only swallowed, looked up cattily, pointing out that  _ he _ was the only one out of the ordinary here.

“And so were we, all risen and groomed at least, before you made an effort to tear yourself from the sheets.”

There was a chorus of amused noises as he blushed. He opened his mouth, and at the risk of embarrassing himself with more needless worrywarting, he moved to spear a couple of hotcakes with fruit before seating himself in quietly with the rest.

Thancred, already with a cleaned plate, gave his stomach a pat and sighed. “I do believe I know where our wayward adventurers might be.”

The young Elezen’s eyes ticked up as Thancred stood.

“No sense in worrying about them. They are adults… most of the time. Anyhow, I suspect they’ll be roused soon enough to partake in the-”

“Most  _ important _ meal of the day!” Tataru jabbed her fork forward as she complimented herself, almost spitting out chunks of food in the process.

_ “‘Roused…?’”  _ The boy muttered to himself. Finally, he made an effort to stop fretting and picked up his fork to dig in.

* * *

“So you see, I didn’t know what to do with ‘em.”

“Yes, I see that.”

“Couldn’t bear to wake them up. I’ve heard a lick of what those Scions have been through, Seven Hells...”

Slafborn scratched his beard and squinted thoughtfully beside the junior watchman.

He’d seen plenty of drunken adventurers pass out in the alleyways, had to sober up a few in the morning himself. Heard enough stories of those who wandered up where they shouldn’t have while they weren’t in their right minds for one reason or another, and taken an unfortunate spill. Hells, that was one of the reasons the Toll’s watch existed. But this wasn’t… _that._

In front of him was a Miqo’te in a chair, and an Auri in his lap with a blanket draped over the both of them, sleeping soundly in the morning rays atop the House of Splendors.

Slafborn, having decidedly ogled the pair for long enough, patted his comrade’s back.

“Alright, let us leave them be. Nothing to see here.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes you get the happy ending but your WoL still has problems! It's okay, they'll get through it together. <3


	3. A New Stone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This entry here takes place right after where 5.3 left off! Enjoy the teasefest that is the Scions, Lilium, and G'raha. xD
> 
> (In case you get confused - this chapter has been reordered and used to be number 1! This may happen anytime I go back and slide things in so don't pay too much attention to the chapter numbers themselves. ^^; )

It was no trouble at all, taking out the hippogryphs. the Warrior of Light didn’t need to expend herself, only casting the most basic spells in her arsenal, shifting her aether comfortably as needed. One well-placed thunderstrike, burst of flame, or a shard of ice through the bony creatures’ form, and they would drop. It was moreso the race to the site of the attack that Alisaie had initiated which Lily felt had any trace of sport to it. Was just straining enough on her calves after having marathoned to the Crystal Tower some few days ago.

Slaying the hippogryphs themselves only left her with a strange feeling of fondness for the days when such creatures still made her nervous; a hearkening to the beginning of an adventurer’s journey. To herself and her comrades, this was another day at the sawmill.

Not that that stopped G’raha from going ham.

“Prithee, accept this engagement as thy formal initiation?”

Lily caught Alisaie rolling her eyes in her peripheral vision, finishing off another of the fiends with a one-two slash of her rapier as Urianger’s card lit ablaze. 

“I do!” G’raha responded with a flick of his staff. The Auri could only watch, equal measures amazed and… _cringing_ at the force of aether G’raha exerted, unleashing a powerful burst of negative energy on one that had leapt at him. 

_Xenoglossy._ Something one would normally reserve for... _‘oh say,’_ Lily thought, equal parts amused and in sarcasm; _‘vanquishing darkness incarnate. Ancient beings hells-bent on making your life harder than it already is. Not so much wild animals.’_ And then she squinted at the far-flung corpse that _used to_ be a hippogryph. 

Sometimes she had to remind herself that this was the same man who could hardly make a weak scathe spell to warm his hands.

_‘You never stood a chance.’_

Alisaie had just snorted in G’raha’s direction. “Say it again, facing Lily this time. And just take both of her hands in yours, and—”

“Alisaie!”

Only willing to allow so much teasing if it didn’t involve her, the Warrior of Light’s pointy flared tail looped up into the air as she shot the Elezen a look. It was about this time that G’raha had turned around, one ear cocked questioningly and asked, “I beg your pardon?” only to find Alisaie spinning her crystal around like a top. She merely offered Lily a deceptively sweet smile, which was the closest to an apology she would ever get. Left her red-faced and damning how easy she was to read, while G’raha was none the wiser.

“Oh, nothing! Do go back to showing off.”

He turned and gave Lily one of his looks then, wide-eyed with a confused tilt to his chin while she waved him away.

“Hah… well, alright then…” He lingered anyway, as if he needed to incriminate himself any further. A long, glowing look at his beloved before he began to turn back.

“Raha—!”

A moment quicker, and G’raha might have seen the gryph launching at him from a rocky climb before it could be dispatched, ilms from sinking its claws into his flesh. As he did not, he could only let out a sharp noise of surprise before spinning around with his crystal staff and witnessing the beast slain in front of him—by a thundering bolt that struck through to the ground. Even Urianger appeared to have been taken unawares, evidenced by the quiet gasp that passed through his lips, and he had half-readied a healing spell with his globe.

“... By the Gods, thank you for that,” G’raha breathed, eyes sparkling when he looked in his hero’s direction once more.

Lily lowered her staff.

“Wasn’t me.”

The sound of sleek boots wandering up to their station outside the camp turned heads. G’raha’s ear flicked in the direction of it, and Lily noticed his grip tighten on his weapon when he turned around to look at who had actually saved him. He let his guard down when Y’shtola emerged from behind the ruined pillar.

“Not quite ‘tears and ash,’” She had a playful tone about her as she honed in on a few of their kills, no doubt seeing a mangled mess of aether by her fellow Seeker, and then back.

“But _close.”_

If only Y’shtola could’ve seen how his ears drooped as Urianger gave into a low chuckle himself.

“Hmph. I knew it was you.” Alisaie smirked and flipped her rapier before stowing it away, seemingly having had her fill of the menial task.

There was a pause, a short listen, and it looked like things were safe now, at least on this end. And no researchers to be heard screaming as if spooked by a mouse in the kitchen.

“What brings you here?” She added.

Y’shtola sighed.

“‘Twould seem that I was right to take my leisure. Had I rushed off so eagerly with the lot of you, we would have missed our _other_ request.”

“And what is that?” G’raha asked, all too readily.

Lily looked at him, frowning, only finding that there wasn’t a hint of dissatisfaction to be found in his expression, and that only made her pity him more. To him, this was new, this was _exciting._ And yet… a part of her just wanted him to sit down for a few minutes. He had been up to bathe by dawn, after which she suspected Tataru had attacked him with his new clothing and kept him playing model. By noon, he had already toddled off with Krile to restore the ward, and she wasn’t even sure if he’d had anything to eat since. Exarch or G’raha, everything and _nothing_ had changed.

But he was _so happy to be with her,_ doing these dumb things, and to that end she couldn’t help but turn her frown upside down.

Even Y’shtola adopted something of a sympathetic look toward the newest Scion. A tiny laugh escaped her.

“Heavens forbid you enjoy yourselves after all that has occurred, _but—_ and I regret to inform you of this—but it would seem the researchers had an unspoken preference for our kill being less...” Silvery eyes trailed to the burned remains nearest to G’raha. _“...Well-done,_ so that the sinews might be harvestable afterward. As they do make for fine tools- that is, when they are not cremated.” And she finished off with a smirk in the redhead’s direction, leading to more droopy ears, and a flush creeping up his neck.

_“Oh.”_

G’raha fidgeted with his hands, eventually throwing one behind his neck to scratch an invisible itch. It was a behavior Lily had only ever taken notice of since he reawakened. It was clear how badly he wanted to fit in, and right now she yearned for a way to give him that comfort. He reminded her again of her early adventures, and how her lack of Sharlayan affiliation set her apart, like a country bumpkin in a room filled with scholars.

And how despite being another scholar himself, G’raha had filled that want for a meaningful relationship with his queer brand of kindness, when she needed it most…

She twiddled her fingers absently against her thigh, absorbed in the light he wore on his face now.

Urianger cleared his throat and interrupted a longing stare well in the making.

“G’raha, mayhap thou would care to take thy leave? Thou hath done more than adequately for an initiate such as thyself.”

The suggestion made his mouth hang open as he looked back and forth and found the sentiment shared, affirming nods forcing him to read the room, so to speak… and perhaps to find it as if he was no longer wanted.

Lily bit her lip. Hard.

“A-ah, but I am glad to continue being of assistance! That is, if you… wanted my assistance. Otherwise—”

“Worry not,” Y’shtola put her hands on her hips to make her point. “It would appear the situation is well under control. Let Alisaie and Urianger have this post. I will see how Thancred and Alphinaud are faring to the east. Go on, and take our _vaunted hero_ with you. After all, you have only just come home. I’m sure Lily would appreciate some relaxation, as well as the opportunity to reacquaint you with The Source?”

The Auri cocked her head to the side then, a subtle smile on her lips. G’raha traded glances with her, eyes asking for permission. 

He wasn’t the only one who had read the room (albeit incorrectly). But for now, Lily was thankful for the opportunity to slip away from the most uncomfortable situation she had helped to create.

“Yes, why don’t we?” Lily swung her hands back and forth beside her. There was a noticeable perk in G’raha’s tail following an excited tempo he was not good at hiding. 

“I know of a certain bird who has been itching for a good run, if you would like to join me?”

One scan across three other pairs of eyes, and then he grinned. 

“Well then, if I am not needed here...” G’raha strode up to her side with a pep in his step, attempting to keep a respectable distance between them, though his tone was readable as something more intimate to her. A glint in his eye that said, _‘yes, and then where will you take me?’_ Lily had the urge just to brush her arm against his affectionately, if it were not for their company.

Because, at the end of the day, she was just as happy he was here with her.

“I think I do fancy a ride.”

The _‘vaunted hero’_ and her _‘initiate’_ put as much space between themselves and the rest of the Scions as they had the patience for, readily checking back and forth with one another, grins breaking before their fingers found and interlocked with one another. A pair of tails swayed contently behind.

While away, they became the couple, and their feet picked up into a sprint.

~~

“And now to clean up after our newcomer. Brilliant.” Alisaie threw a look over her shoulder at Urianger, who gave a weak shrug of his shoulders, beginning to pinken in the warm sun. 

Even as she knelt and picked apart the crispy bits of one of G’raha’s prey with a knife, she still felt satisfied enough with the outcome.

“Didst thou possess a more suitable suggestion?” Urianger half-teased, more successful at retrieving usable sinew as he tied it up neatly inside his sack.

_“No,”_ The younger grumbled for a moment, only finding more pieces that looked like used coke from someone’s furnace _._ She would have made a game of this like she had with Lily in Lakeland if it didn’t seem terribly unfair. Or if she hadn’t already tired of the monotonous harvest.

She didn’t mind too much doing other people’s chores, as used to it as she was. But when those chores were made a little more difficult by certain overzealous comrades...

“If I had to witness another minute of googly eyes, I swear I was going to char something- or _someone_ else.”

Alisaie dropped yet more hard, crumbly parts onto the ground, breathing out with her lips pressed together. The noise it made Y’shtola’s ear move, though she smartly minded her own business for the time being. Almost infuriatingly deft with her fingers regardless of her vision. At least she had agreed to stay and help for a little while. Her brother was never the type to want to be _this_ hands-on.

“He will learn from this." She muttered, mind still fresh with how easily G'raha had run off with Lily nearly on his arm. "I will see to it that he learns. Even if it’s the hard way.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edit: If you'd like to read the NSFW continuation of this, go here!:  
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/26285938/chapters/63994255
> 
> BTW IDK HOW TO WRITE URIANGER DIALOGUE DON'T @ ME THANKS.
> 
> but if you like my stuff then feel free to follow me on Twitter @ noodlephysics !


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